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Astragon shuts down its development studio: end for the makers of "Seafarer" in Hamm

SoftwareNovember 3, 20261 min read

Astragon Entertainment, a game publisher from Düsseldorf, is closing its in-house game studio Astragon Development in Hamm. About 30 jobs will be lost by the end of November.

The studio is closing

Astragon Entertainment plans to shut down its developer studio Astragon Development in Hamm. The company wants to stop operations in a controlled way by the end of November. Astragon says it will fully meet all existing contracts and debts. The company says it is changing direction. It wants to focus on publishing, which means selling and marketing games made by other studios.

Key facts

About 30 employees will lose their jobs.
Operations are set to end by the end of November.
Astragon bought the studio in April 2023 for 3.5 million euros.
The studio was founded in 1990 as Independent Arts.

A studio with a long history

Astragon Development grew out of Independent Arts, a studio founded in 1990. Independent Arts worked for other companies as a contract developer, which means it built games for clients. Its clients included Kalypso Media, Wild River Games and Daedalic Entertainment. Astragon Entertainment is known for work simulation games such as Bus Simulator and Construction Simulator. It is one of three divisions of the British publisher Everplay.

The last game

The studio's latest game was the ship simulator Seafarer: The Ship Sim. It came out as a full version on September 24, 2026, for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, after almost a year in early access. The German government supported its development with more than 1.8 million euros from its games funding program. Updates will continue only until the studio closes.

Why it matters

The closure shows a trend in the German game industry. Daedalic also stopped developing games in 2023 to focus only on publishing. Bigger German studios are under pressure too. Ubisoft plans to cut about 100 jobs in Germany, including at Ubisoft Mainz, which makes the Anno city-building series.

Glossary

Astragon Entertainment: A game publisher from Düsseldorf that sells and markets games, known for work simulation titles.
Everplay: A British listed company that owns Astragon Entertainment, Team17 and StoryToys.
Daedalic Entertainment: A game company from Hamburg that stopped making its own games in 2023 and now only publishes games.

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